Riley Wheeldon

Riley Wheeldon (died 1863) was a merchant of the United States whose death in 1863 led to the American, British, and French bombardment of Japan.

Biography
Riley Wheeldon was a merchant of the United States and a friend of American officer Porter Samuels. In 1863, the two were sent to Japan's Tokugawa Shogunate to provide the Emperor with some Gatling Guns in exchange for some money. Wheeldon was killed alongside Samuels by three samurai one day in 1863, as they were heeding the emperor's order to kill all of the foreigners in the country. The two were cut to death by the samurai's katanas, and soon after, British, American, and French forces bombarded Kagoshima and other Japanese ports.